Snow Heart
by xXUsEdXx
Summary: When friendship blooms in an unexpected way, you enjoy the moments you have being friends. Jack/OC friendship


_My first R.O.T.G shot since I first saw the movie. It centers mostly around Jack and my OC, Emerie, and I've been working on the kinks for months. My LONGEST ONE SHOT EVER!_

_Anyway, I'd originally had Snow Kiss by Nirgilis as the theme to listen to while reading, but I think the song Let Her Go by Within Temptation goes better. I recommend listening to the song while reading this._

_Enjoy and forgive me if Jack's a smidge OOC *smacks self*_

* * *

It had been by total accident.

A complete and unintentional accident!

It was no surprise that Jack Frost was wandering around this winter, being seen by the much younger children and causing a smidge of mischief. However, his pla nwas not to end up outside of some teenage girl's window.

The girl was sitting in her bed, facing what he guessed was her mother. The lady was saying something that seemed to be frustrating both her and the girl because the girl just turned away and flopped on her bed. The lady just stood up and walked out the room.

Justas Jack pressed a hand to the window, he fell through with a crash onto the carpet and his hood fell onto his head. "Ow…" he muttered.

"What the heck…?" came a soft female voice and Jack saw a pair of bare feet appear in his line of sight. They slowly walked toward him and, in attempt to move away, crawled away. The feet halted.

"Who are you?" asked the voice again, soft and almost concerned.

Withal sigh, Jack pulled his hood back and looked up to meet a pair of light blue eyes.

The girl was looking at him, dark wavy hair spilling over her shoulders, addressed in a nightgown. She blinked owlishly at him. "Who are you?" she repeated.

Jack blinked back at her. "You can see me?"

The girl frowned as if he had said something negative. "Of course I can see you."

"That means…you probably already know who I am."

"It 'helps if I still had your name anyway."

With another sigh, Jack said, "I'm Jack Frost."

Dither eyes just light up or was he hallucinating. "So you are real!" she exclaimed excitedly before kneeling right in front of him. "I knew it, I always knew it!"

"Yougonna tell me _your_ name?" asked Jack, tossing the burden back onto the girl.

She didn't appear ruffled by the way he asked; in fact, she smiled. "I'm Duval. You can call me Em, though, everyone does."

She held out her hand.

Jack stared at Emerie's hand before slowly, carefully, taking her hand and shaking it.

Emerie moved to sit back and crossed her legs. "So," she said, tilting her head again."What brings you around here? I mean, aside from the snow."

"Bored, I guess," replied Jack, shrugging. "I mean, it's more or less my time of the year."

"I thought it was Santa's time. Y'know, with it being so close to Christmas," laughed Emerie, brushing strands of her hair from her face.

"Santa and I have a kind of joint time of the year."

"Interesting."

"So...how old are you anyway? Aren't you a little too old to still believe in Santa or the Tooth Fairy or even me?" Jack asked with a raised eyebrow.

Emerie's expression shifted slightly before she smiled. "I guess so, being thirteen and all," she answered. "My mom's always used to tell about you, but I guess it's because she used to watch those old Christmas specials and got everything from that. But she's upset because I still believe in you and also because-" Emerie stopped and seemed to bite down on her tongue.

Jack frowned slightly. "Because?"

"It's not important." Emerie waved her hand dismissively.

"So, um…" Jack's eyes flew around Emerie's room for a change of subject. "Why aren't you outside? Everyone's outside and playing in the snow."

Emerie placed her index finger against her cheek. "I'm not…well…" She sighed, lowering her hand and looking at him. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Sure," Jack replied, assuming that the secret wasn't very serious.

"I wished for so long that I could go outside like everyone else. I used to, but…certain circumstances caused my parents to want me inside and within their line of sight." Emerie shut her eyes with a sigh. "I mean, just one day to feel the snow. Is that so much to ask?"

"No," Jack said immediately.

"Exactly!" Emerie exclaimed, her palms upward in the air.

Jack smiled slightly. This girl was weird, but in a funny way.

A sound of footsteps made them both jump. Emerie bit onto her thumb. "My parents are coming."

"It's not like they can see me," Jack pointed out.

"Yeah, but they'll be asking if I'm talking to myself," replied Emerie, getting to her feet.

Jack did the same and headed to the window. "I'll head out then."

"Can you come back tomorrow?" asked Emerie, her tone slightly hopeful.

Jack glanced back at her. "You want me to come back?"

"Yeah."

"Then I'll come back."

Emerie beamed. "Great."

Jack nodded before disappearing out the window.

* * *

"You fell in through her window?" asked Bunnymund with laughter in his voice.

"It was a complete accident. It's not like I knew her window was gonna give on me!"shot Jack.

"Right," chuckled Bunnymund, crossing his arms. "You said her name was Em?"

"Short for Emerie," Jack responded. "Why?"

"The name rings a bell. Hey, Tooth," Bunnymund called, addressing Toothiana. "You got the baby teeth of a girl named Emerie?"

"Of course!" Tooth said, placing her hands on her hips. "I had to get her baby teeth from her parents' room because they kept taking them once she fell asleep."

"Why?"asked Jack.

"Maybe because they kept telling her I'd come and take the teeth after a few minutes of her sleeping," answered Tooth. "She was always a deep sleeper."

"Huh," Jack said, crossing his arms and going into deep thought.

"You gonna go see her again?" asked Bunnymund.

"I promised her I would," Jack answered. "She's been staying inside and everything, so it's not like I can see her outside."

Tooth looked at Bunnymund. "Oh, he doesn't know…" she mumbled.

"Wha tdon't I know?" Jack glared at Tooth's direction.

Tooth waved her hands vigorously. "Nothing!"

Jack looked away, going into deep thought again. Tooth knew something, he realized, something from Emerie's memory in her baby tooth. Maybe she'd tell him eventually, but for now…

* * *

~~~~The Next Day~~~

* * *

Emerie left her window open. Jack noted this with a slight feeling of delight.

He climbed into Emerie's room and Emerie sat up on her bed. Her face positively glowed at the sight of him. "Jack!"

"Hey, Em." Jack raised an eyebrow at her. "Did you think I wouldn't come?" he asked.

"No, no, no! I knew you would!" Emerie answered quickly.

He continued to look at her with an expression of complete skepticism.

"Okay, okay, you got me." Emerie raised her hands in defeat. "I thought you were a complete hallucination of my malfunctioning mind and…yeah."

"You shouldn't be doubting yourself," Jack said.

Emerie shrugged. "I'm not as confident as I used to be as a kid."

She flopped onto her back and Jack carefully climbed onto her bed. She looked at him.

"Hey, Jack?"

"What?"

"Isit cold out there?"

Jack looked at Emerie. "Why do you wanna know?" he asked.

Emerie gave a half-shrug. "I just wanted to know."

Jack looked at the ceiling. A sketch was taped to it, but with the limited amount of light being filtered in the room, he couldn't see what it was of. "I guess i tis cold out there, being winter and all. It just feels warm to me."

"Right," Emerie agreed. "That was a stupid question to ask; of course, it'd feel like it was July out there to you."

"Don't down yourself like that."

"I can down myself any which way if I wanted to."

"Why would you want to?"

"Because I'm a strange little person."

Jack couldn't argue with that one. "What does it matter if you didn't know? You still asked and got your answer, didn't you?"

Emerie's expression shifted to deep thought. "I guess you're right." She shifted so was laying on her side. "I've always wanted to be an artist."

That was out of the blue. "Really?" asked Jack.

"Yeah," Emerie said it as though she was carefully considering her words. "I've always been drawing and everything, so I planned on being an artist when I grow up. I have a whole bunch of drawings. Wanna see?"

"Yeah." Jack sat up straighter as Emerie jumped off her bed and went over to her dresser. She opened the top drawer and pulled out a black binder, cradling it gently to her chest as she shut the drawer. She walked back slowly, holding the binder with both arms as though her life depended on it. She sat on the edge of the bed and handed the binder to Jack.

Jack took the binder from her and opened it. The first drawing was a snowy landscape, looking as if it was drawn in white chalk and the dark colors shaping into trees. Turning to the next drawing, it was a picture of a snowflake that was colored a very light blue.

"These are really good," Jack commented earnestly.

Emerie flushed lightly. "You should look at the next one."

Jack flipped to the third drawing and his breath caught for only a second. It was a sketch of him a while back, when a majority of people didn't believe in him and Pitch was going to cause the children everywhere to cease believing in the guardians.

"I…guess I could safely say I saw you a while back." Emerie was twirling a strand of her wavy hair around her finger. "But I thought maybe I was seeing things and I…drew from memory that day."

It must have been when she was still going outside. "Em, these are really incredible. You'd be a great artist," Jack told her and she flushed a deeper shade of red.

"Thanks. Really. That means a lot," she replied.

"You really like winter, don't you?" Jack asked with a slight teasing lilt.

"Are you kidding? It's my favorite season ever!" Emerie exclaimed, looking scandalized. "The world just looks so beautiful covered in white!"

"Okay, okay, don't have a fit!" laughed Jack, shutting the binder. He didn't see Emerie flinch slightly at the word "fit", but she smiled again.

"I'm glad you like the drawings," she said. "Most of my family just says to do something practical." She rolled her eyes.

"Being practical is boring."

"Indeed."

Jack handed Emerie her binder. "Don't quit on what you wanna do, okay?" he said.

Emerie nodded. "I won't. Scout's honor."

Jack smiled. "Good."

* * *

The ritual over the next two days was the same. Emerie would leave the window open for Jack and he would come into her room. They would talk about everything. Jack would tell her about his friends and fellow guardians and she would listen with wide, attentive, fascinated eyes. On the other hand, some things were difficult to get out of Emerie, especially why she would stay inside. It was almost as if she was afraid. That would have to change. So, on Christmas Eve, he made that change.

"Get your coat on," Jack ordered.

Emerie blinked in confusion, but she went to her closet to get her winter coat out."Why?"

"You'll see," Jack said.

Emerie pulled on her coat and her winter boats. She walked toward Jack, the question still lingering in her eyes. Almost with an almost impatient "tsk", Jack wrapped an arm around her. "Hold on."

"Okay," she mumbled.

Tightening his hold on her, Jack went out the window, hearing Emerie give a small, almost quiet scream in his ear. He landed them on their feet and let Emerie go.

"This is what you wanted, right?" he asked. "To be out here."

Emerie looked around, at the snow on the ground to the winter sky. She walked carefully, little ways from Jack.

"Wow," she breathed. "It's been so long…"

She knelt down and gathered snow in her hands before standing up and throwing the snow in the air. The snow fell into her hair and onto her arms. With a laugh, she began to spin.

Jack shook his head with a laugh before gently blowing snowflakes into the air, commanding them to fly around Emerie. She laughed even more, trying to catch one on the tip of her finger.

"Having fun yet?" Jack asked her and Emerie looked at him with a smile on her face. She started spinning around in a circle again, spinning and spinning until—

-She clutched at her chest with a small cry of pain and collapsed into the snow.

"Em!" Jack ran to her side and knelt by her. Emerie's eyes were closed, her breathing ragged. Her hands were no longer clutching at her chest, but laying lifelessly in the snow. Jack grabbed at her shoulders. "Em! Em, you okay?"

Almost immediately, Jack heard someone screaming from Emerie's house and his head whipped to the sound. The door opened and Emerie's mother stood there and, upon seeing Emerie laying in the snow, screamed again and ran to Emerie. Jack stood and backed away almost at once before her mother went through him.

_She can't see me…_He had forgotten.

He looked back at the house and saw Emerie's dad run out and to her side while her mom was cradling Emerie to her. Her dad pulled out a phone and began dialing and talking rapidly. Jack backed away again.

He could see Emerie's eyes open halfway and find him. She was giving him a look, an emotion in her eyes that he didn't comprehend.

He could feel something was wrong. He could feel it in his gut. He had to getaway. He had to.

Looking away from Emerie, Jack disappeared with the snow in his wake.

Almost one hour went by. One agonizing hour.

Jack knew he had to see Emerie, to at least see that she was okay. He went to her house to find her room empty. With a sigh, he left her house to find her. She couldn't be outside, so it narrowed it down to one other place: a hospital. So he went there.

He peered through all the windows on the lower floor before trying the upper floor. Second window in, he stopped. There she was.

Emerie was laying on the bed, her eyes attentive on a doctor talking to her and she nodded at something before the doctor left. Just as quickly, Jack slid the hospital door open.

Emerie turned, her eyes finding him. "Jack…"

Her voice was weak, he noticed. He tried to smile, but couldn't. "You okay, Em?"

"I will be," Emerie whispered. "Hopefully."

Hopefully? "What do you mean?" asked Jack.

Emerie's eyes reflected something that looked so much like regret and sadness. "I…I know you wanted to know, Jack. About why I was never allowed outside," she began.

"Yeah."

"Well, I…I have…I have a heart condition and you saw…one of my seizures."

Something was eating away at his gut. Dread. He didn't want to know. He shouldn't be hearing this …

"You should know. You _deserve_ to know. You remember how I said I wanted to be an artist?" Emerie asked.

"Of course I do," Jack answered.

"With this condition…my doctors can't help me, Jack. I won't live to be a grown-up."

The dread was intensifying. "You…mean…"

"I'm going to die, Jack."

_No! _his mind shouted as the feeling filled him. The feeling of wanting to save someone, to protect them, just like his sister. This time, though, he knew; he knew he can't save Emerie.

"Jack?"Her voice was soft and it sounded so distant.

"I have to go," Jack said. "I…I'm sorry."

He turned, climbing onto the sill right when Emerie whispered, "Wait. Please."

He couldn't stay. "Bye, Em…" he whispered as he jumped out the window.

* * *

"Jack? Are you okay?" Tooth asked right as Jack showed up, his expression haunted.

"Huh?"He snapped his attention to Tooth. "Oh. It's nothing, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Tooth looked at him with concern.

_No. My friend is dying, _his mind wanted him to say, but Jack responded, "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Did that girl, Em, tell you? That she was sick?"

_Of course Tooth knew…_Jack said nothing.

North, preparing for his run around the world, knew something was troubling Jack, but said nothing. Instead, he checked his list for the second time, ticking off the names.

Jack listened as North ticked off the names and whatever the kid wanted until—

"Well, well. Emerie Tamara Duval has quite an unusual wish," North said.

Jack looked at him. "What do you mean?"

North held out the list and Jack walked over and looked at Emerie's name and her wish was…

"_I want to see Jack Frost one more time."_

"Em…"Jack whispered before moving away from North.

"Where are you going, Jack?" Tooth asked.

"I should be with her," Jack answered. "She needs me."

With that, he ran out.

* * *

The hospital was dark. He guessed the relatives were at their homes, waiting to visit their hospitalized relatives the next day. There was one person Jack had to be beside.

He climbed into the room from the window and shut it so the cold wouldn't come in. He turned around to see Emerie.

Her eyes were closed, her breathing soft. She looked paler than earlier.

Jack could sense it, could feel Emerie getting weaker. Quietly, he went to her bedside and gently laced his fingers with hers. "Em? I'm right here," he whispered.

Emerie's eyes fluttered before opening. Absently, her hand squeezed his and she looked at their joined hands before her eyes met his. "Jack?" she breathed.

"Hey, Em," he responded. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm…all right." She inhaled to work her energy back up. "I'm so sorry, Jack. You were open with me and I…I didn't…"

Jack gave Emerie's hand a gentle squeeze. "Don't start apologizing."

Emerie bit her lip, a sign that she was completely uncertain by that response. "You were upset," she whispered, her eyes searching his face for anything, he realized, to give any emotion away.

Jack sighed. He had to be honest on why he seemed that way to her. He couldn't leave it at this. "It's because…I actually got reminded of my little sister," he told her. "I died to save her and became who I am now, so when you told me you were going to die…I felt powerless. I can save everyone," he added with a wry laugh, "but you."

Emerie tilted her head with a frown. "Don't say something like that."

"Why?"

"Because my prognosis was set before I even met you."

She had a point, Jack thought. He shook his head.

"Jack."Emerie's voice was slightly stronger that it caught Jack's attention. "Can you tell me about your friends again?"

Jack smiled, more to himself than her. "You remember what I told you about each of them?"

"I think so."

"I'll quiz you then. North's the guardian of…?"

"The Guardian of…Wonder?"

Jack grinned. "Right. What about Tooth?"

Emerie smiled back weakly. "She's the Guardian of Memories."

"Sandy?"

"Guardian of Dreams."

"And Bunnymund?"

"Hope! He's the Guardian of Hope."

Jack laughed. "You got it," he praised her.

Emerie gave a small little cheer for herself before going solemn. "I wish I could meet them," she whispered. "It would have been so fun…oh, and you're the Guardian of Fun," she added with a short laugh.

Jack nodded. "That's right; I'm the Guardian of Fun," he said.

"Which is good. You made my last days the most fun I've ever had." Emerie smiled again, a weaker one than before. "Thank you, Jack."

Jack realized he had a dark feeling rioting in his gut, twisting them horribly. Dread. He didn't want to hear how absolute it was that the girl on the bed was dying. "Don't act like this is it, Em," he said, his voice slightly harsher than he meant it to be. "You'll get better and we'll still have loads of fun. Snowball fights and everything!"

Emerie shut her eyes and shook her head slowly. "As much as I want to think positive, I know this is it for me," she said softly. "I'm going to be gone, Jack. But…"

He frowned at her. "But?"

She sighed shakily and Jack felt her becoming tense; her hand was gently squeezing his own. "Can you stay with me until it happens? I don't want to be alone."

The request was heartbreaking and he knew it. Almost immediately, he forced a smile this time. "Yeah."

Emerie exhaled and relaxed, her hand easing up on his own. Her eyes remained closed as she just breathed.

Silence hung in the air for a few moments until Emerie spoke again. "Jack?"

Jack kept his eyes on her. "Yeah?"

She opened her eyes. "Can you make it snow?"

He nodded. "Sure."

With a wave of his hand, Jack created three large snowflakes and released them into the air before he watched Emerie following the moving snowflakes with her eyes. Carefully, she raised a hand, her index finger pointed upward until she touched one of the three so gently it looked as though she missed it by a second. With a smile, Emerie lowered her hand and closed her eyes again.

"Em?" Jack felt the panic slowly rising in him. "Stay awake."

"I…can't," Emerie breathed and Jack can hear her breathing slowing down. "I'm so tired…I can't…"

He tightened his grip on her hand. "Yes you can."

Emerie didn't respond and, for a moment, Jack was sure she had gone and he turned to go. Before he released her hand, he heard her whisper, "I…always…loved you…"

He looked back at her, surprised. "What?" he whispered, half-wondering if she heard him, half-wondering if she was just sleep talking.

"I always…loved you…" Emerie repeated, not opening her eyes.

Jack held his breath. How was he supposed to respond to that? He wasn't even sure if she was entirely—

He froze once he heard her breath again.

"The snowflakes…they're so pretty…do you see them, Jack…?" Emerie whispered as though she hadn't heard him respond to what she said last.

Jack's expression softened. "Yeah. I see them too," he whispered back, hoping and praying that it eases her into oblivion peacefully.

Almost immediately, quietly, Emerie's hand slipped from his own, hanging lifelessly over the edge of the bed. He knew at once that she had stopped breathing.

Jack turned away and walked over to the window. He opened it slowly, almost as if Emerie had fallen asleep. In a way, he realized, she had; she'd fallen into an eternal sleep and, hopefully, a peaceful dream.

Two of the three snowflakes melted and the third he had deliberately fall into her open hand. Jack sighed.

"Bye, Em."

And he disappeared into the night.

* * *

_Soo...love it? Hate it? Somewhere in between?_


End file.
